I'll be reprinting some excerpts of source material relevant to the Poppy religion on this blog for future reference and consideration.
Following is an excerpt from the Cai Trefor interview with Poppy on gigwise.com from January 24th, 2019.
Poppy: I find the fans of my music to be intelligent. I feel the community we're creating online - especially with poppy.church; the website that I started that has turned into an actual religion - we are attracting a kind of person who doesn't fit into the current mould. A person who doesn't find that current pop music resonates with them.
CT: I joined your church. I set up a digital bedroom yesterday.
P: Yay.
CT: How did it start?
P: Well, a lot of people were saying that I was in a cult. I’m not in a cult. So now I have created a church.
CT: What are the founding principles?
P: We believe in creative thinking, critical thinking, positivity, happiness, and making the world cute!
CT: When you’re at your happiest do you think that’s when a lot of people try to derail you?
P: I think a lot of people struggle with being positive and people try and blow out the light shining brightly because it's easier to be angry. I think that's a lot of people derail and I don’t blame them because the world is a crazy place. And we all wake up everyday trying to make sense of it and it can be really overwhelming. But I want to be the light and the escape, and I think my fans understand that.
CT: A lot of people in Poppy.church are quite young, do you feel like a guiding light to a lot of these young people - a positive influence?
P: I hope to be. I don’t want to say look at me everything I’m doing is correct. But I believe in leading by example.
CT: Are you blurring the lines between spiritual religious leader and pop star? Are there any others doing that?
P: Not that I know of.
CT: Do you feel that's where you’re at emotionally, then?
P: I think to a certain extent many pop artists live that way already but this is slightly different.
CT: Has this cult happened by public demand or something you've built slowly?
P: I think 50/50. I think the fans want somebody to fill that role. I also think that I'm cut out for it.
CT: You mentioned critical thinking - are there any theories that you particularly resonate with?
P: 1984. I think people should start there if they want to understand a bit more.
CT: I think you've cited Brave New World in one of your songs. I suppose Aldous Huxley’s a big influence on your work, too?
P: Yes. A large influence.
CT: Do you think the internet is a forum of freedom or a form of control?
P: Orwell and Huxley were extremely prophetic and I think the current climate of the internet is no different of any other form of media. And I think it's just the new one. A lot of people have the opportunity to use it for good or for bad. I try to use my corner of the internet happy and cute and as much as I can push the message of positivity.
CT: I read 2014 was when you cleared out YouTube and started Poppy the way it is now. Was there a particular artistic that influenced you around that time that sparked it the way it is?
P: I think 2014 is actually the birth. I received a transmission from God and I realised who I was and I realised that if I’m not the one saying these things somebody else is going to say them and they're not going to be as good.
CT: What transmission?
P: That I needed to be on this path. Titanic Sinclair happened to come into my life and we happened to be on a similar wavelength.
CT: What does this path look like? Can you visualise it?
P: It looks like a very twisty and turny road with lots of hills and a couple of valleys that I feel I've gone through. And there's a lot more mountain tops and a lot more turns [to come]. But, it's a really long road.
CT: What kind of god?
P: I don’t know if it’s an alien, a spirit, or a being of some sort.
CT: So you’re not talking about a Christian god?
P: God is just the word people use to make sense of the higher power.
